Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43Planting Good Seed

Do any of you plant gardens? If you live on a farm you may have a large outdoor garden and if you live in an apartment you may have plants growing in pots on your windowsill.

How do the plants get started? Yes, they grow from seeds. We usually think of seeds as being very small. Some are no bigger than a grain of salt or a speck of sand.

Now something interesting: Did you know that a coconut is a seed? Yes, this big, shaggy, brown coconut is actually the seed from which other coconut palm trees grow.

You may have seen pictures of how coconuts hang high up in a palm tree. When the coconut is ripe it falls from the tree unto the ground below. The coconut may stay there for months and it may look very dry and brown, as if nothing is happening, but eventually a green leaf will poke out of this hole, near the two eyes of the coconut. (Show example.)

After some time the coconut puts out roots and a coconut palm tree grows right where the coconut landed. Because there are air pockets inside the coconut it will float. Stories are told about coconuts that have been picked up by waves and float across oceans to land and grow on distant lands.

Jesus said, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man” (13:37). Jesus uses the story of seeds to teach us that he is the one from whom love comes. When we receive God’s love we are like “good seeds” which grow and produce more love that we can share with others, even those who live in distant lands.